The Forge

Faith-based story of a wayward Black youth finds a few genuinely touching moments in between all the Jesus-this and Jesus-that.

Faith-based films have become a real going concern over the past couple of decades, in part because a lot of them bring a light touch to their tales of redemption through Christianity. Some you might not even know are gently proselytizing to you.

Not “The Forge.” You’d better like your Jesus talk if you go to see it, because the Son of God gets name-checked more times in this movie than gutter balls at a blind guy bowling tournament.

It’s the story of a wayward Black teen who finds himself saved by getting a job at a sports equipment company where the owner takes him under his wing. Soon it becomes a more formal mentorship in the faith known as “discipling,” in which an older man raises up a young man to be his brother in Christ, and then they pass it on.

This kind of thing is not my bag, and as I’m not the target audience, weigh my opinion with that in mind. But I’m a sucker for good, earnestly told human story, and “The Forge” is that.

Don’t tell the agnostics, but I may have even shed a tear or three.

It’s from faith-based veterans director Alex Kendrick and his brother, Stephen, with whom he wrote the screenplay. It’s technically a spinoff of their 2015 film "War Room,” and a few actors, T.C. Stallings, Karen Abercrombie and Priscilla Shirer reprise their roles as supporting parts.

Here the focus is on Isaiah Wright (Aspen Kennedy), a snotty kid who lives at home with his single mom, Cynthia (Shirer), and gives her all kinds of grief. He’s 19 and out of high school with no plans for college, a job or anything else, and does little more than play video games and pickup basketball. After he lets her down for the nth time, Cynthia demands that Isaiah get a job and pay him rent.

This leads him to the door of the Moore sports equipment company, where he manages to diss the owner, Joshua Moore (Cameron Arnett), while filling out a job application. To his surprise the man offers to take him to lunch anyway, and asks him to return when he has the answer to three questions, all about his future and the kind of man he wants to be.

This leads to a part-time job working on the shipping floor, which also comes with the requirement of meeting Joshua twice a week for breakfast and mentorship. At first it’s general Jordan Peterson-type stuff: respect others to get respect, face your challenges, even lessons in how to shake another man’s hand.

But soon enough they start talking Jesus, and Isaiah surprises himself by being a willing student. He feels the call and starts to make positive changes in his life, from cleaning up his messy bedroom to treating his mom better.

Now, the cynical critic in me immediately thought that any boss who whips out religious talk on an impressionable young employee is hankering for a lawsuit. But Kennedy and Arnett have genuine synergy in their scenes together, and we accept the purely paternal way in which this guidance is offered, and accepted.

Isaiah’s own dad bolted out the door long ago, and the kid harbors a lot of unacknowledged rage about this that must be worked out.

Eventually he is invited to join The Forge, a private group for discipling pairs that meets a couple times a month for dinner and to hold each other accountable in their faith journey.

Yes, it’s pretty sappy stuff. But I’ve had the privilege of visiting a lot of nonprofit groups working to offer a secular version of this sort of mentorship to Black and brown kids, and I can tell you how powerfully effective it is. And yes, it’s a pretty overt nod to the importance of older men in raising up young boys often missing those figures in their lives.

“The Forge” sometimes wanders off into some portions that are not really necessary, like a whole subplot about Joshua’s business experiencing challenges from a competitor, which culminates in a rah-rah finale that’s put together solely to give Isaiah a chance to shine.

But it’s a surprisingly compelling tale at its heart. Even if, like me, you’re uncomfortable with people attributing every single thing that happens in their life to the writ of the Lord, I was moved by watching Isaiah find his way with the help of a strong, caring man.

That, I can put my faith in.